Audiobooks discussion

Johnny is a hoot, looking forward to this Q&A!

Really enjoyed his reading of Murder at Fenway Park, made me decide that I want to read the rest of this series... and I am not a particular fan of baseball... <><

Just wanted to pop in and thank you so much for the enjoyment I've gotten with your non-fiction narrations! You do a wonderful job with serious subjects, and your voice is perfect for non-fiction. Most narrators don't seem to be able to pull it off. :)

Welcome! You are a new narrator to me, although I've heard your name before. Which of your narrated books would you recommend I start? My interests are primarily historical fiction and cozy mysteries. Thanks!

Wow a very broad mix of genres :-) Do you have a favourite genre to read/narrate?

Welcome Johnny!
You have lots and lots of books for kids listed on Audible and I've noticed many of the reviews include something like "great job as usual", meaning many are repeat customers who recognize your voice and happily come back for more. Is narrating kids books something you seek out or is it that audiobook publishers seek you out?

Hi all!
I just woke up so...
Let me walk my dog and I'll be right back to start answering your questions!

While I'm on kids books... you do an amazing job with young-sounding voices. What do you do to bring this out--and do you prepare any differently when doing kid lit as opposed to other fiction?

Julie wrote: "Could you tell us first of all, where you are originally from ?"

I am a Chicago boy! I grew up in Lombard,IL and graduated from Loyola of Chicago. Then off to NYC/LA and back to NYC

Julie wrote: "You have such a varied career, there are so many areas to talk about .
Let's start off by asking how you originally got started in Audiobook Narration ?"

I was always a commercial VO actor and a stand up and one day Richard Ferrone - an outstanding narrator - told me to go to Recorded Books as they needed a youthful voice from an immature guy to do kids books --kismet!

Julie wrote: "Did you grow up a book lover ?"

short answer - YES.

Julie wrote: "Do you remember the first audiobook you ever listened to ?"

ummmm. no. I really can't

Julie wrote: "Which narrators would you say were huge influences on you when you first got into the business yourself ?"

Simon Prebble, Grover Gardner, Barbara Rosenblat, George Guidall - all were very very kind to me when I started and remain my friends today

Daphne wrote: "Just wanted to pop in and thank you so much for the enjoyment I've gotten with your non-fiction narrations! You do a wonderful job with serious subjects, and your voice is perfect for non-fiction. ..."

thank you !

Louise wrote: "Wow a very broad mix of genres :-) Do you have a favourite genre to read/narrate?"

I love history, detective/noir and anything funny

Johnny wrote: "Julie wrote: "Could you tell us first of all, where you are originally from ?"

I am a Chicago boy! I grew up in Lombard,IL and graduated from Loyola of Chicago. Then off to NYC/LA and back to NYC"

Chicago, yay! So glad you could join us here. I'm sure the group will have many questions for you, but I wanted to let you know that I work in Oak Brook, next door to Lombard. Curious to know if you are still a fan of Chicago sports teams or have you crossed over to the dark side supporting the coastal teams? :-)

Jeanie wrote: "Welcome Johnny!
You have lots and lots of books for kids listed on Audible and I've noticed many of the reviews include something like "great job as usual", meaning many are repeat customers who re..."

It's how I started and I still do quite a few. Nowadays - I'd say it's more the publishers seeking me out for it. 90% of my work now is in the adult market -- not the "dirty" adult market -- the regular - "Oh my God, we are soooo old!" market

Jeanie wrote: "While I'm on kids books... you do an amazing job with young-sounding voices. What do you do to bring this out--and do you prepare any differently when doing kid lit as opposed to other fiction?"

Kids book require broader sounds and an understanding of what kids think and what they like to hear and what keeps them entertained. Kids have such vivid imaginations - the narrator needs to match that ..if possible!

Part 1 - I am frequently sent by Recorded Books to speak at public libraries. The shows are either only for the librarians or open to the general public. IF there are kids there, I do some children and young adult excerpts and try not to swear too much!
I have never been invited to a school to speak but I would do it - if it were a group of college or high school actors interested in the business.
I've only ever done one "just kids" reading thing and I must say - it doesn't come up that much for me. Could be a time thing, a money thing....I dunno.

As far as reading kids books and my school days - I will honestly tell you that I really don't recall too much from that time - so I guess ...no!

Lilmissmolly wrote: "Welcome! You are a new narrator to me, although I've heard your name before. Which of your narrated books would you recommend I start? My interests are primarily historical fiction and cozy mysteri..."

oops. missed this one earlier! I suggest you try MASH, SHOT ALL TO HELL. Also - because I'm pretty sure "cozy" mysteries are mostly British - you try what I think are pretty light but fun mysteries: THE EIGHTH DWARF, SAFAIR, FOOL FOR A CLIENT and one of my all time faves: THE FAT MAN - A TALE OF NORTH POLE NOIR - about an elf who thwarts a plot to off Santa! It's very funny and uses every Xmas movie and story you've ever heard.

Johnny wrote: "Lilmissmolly wrote: "Welcome! You are a new narrator to me, although I've heard your name before. Which of your narrated books would you recommend I start? My interests are primarily historical fic..."

I forgot -- that's gonna happen a lot! All the Midnight Louie books are cozy mysteries and they are a hoot. Also PN Elrod wrote a series of Vampire detective mysteries that are quite good

Julie wrote: "I also recently listened to Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean ,which was a very interesting true crime case I don't think I'd heard of before .
Was it hard for you to pronounce the Greek..."

I don't know if "hard" is the right word! Narrators need to prep the book and be accurate with pronunciation. I can't recall now how we handled that - but Jo Anna Perrin and I were in touch with the author. Once someone says a person's name - I just have to write it down phonetically and try not to screw up!
I speak a little Spanish.

Johnny, not to be crass, but do any of your books pay royalties? If so, we can run out and buy those first! ;)

Just a personal note, it just killed me when I found out most narrators don't get any residuals... I want my audiobook purchases to support both the writer who wrote the story and the narrator who brings it to life. Grrr... I'm still willing to sign a petition or maybe hold a sit-in at a Barnes and Noble café... oh, wait, that'd look like what I do at a B&N anyway... ;)

Jeanie wrote: "Johnny, not to be crass, but do any of your books pay royalties? If so, we can run out and buy those first! ;)

Just a personal note, it just killed me when I found out most narrators don't get any..."

How very nice of you! I get residuals/loot from: THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE, HUCK FINN, THE TOMB THAT RUTH BUILT, THE FALLEN

I don't do too many ACX titles - which is the only place the narrator can get a royalty share agreement. I've nothing against ACX at all - I think it's great. I just don't have that much time.

RE: residuals -- I think what happened was that this industry took off with a bang and the money pie got sliced up pretty quickly and the talent didn't get the biggest slice! You need to understand that a company like Recorded Books (I think the largest audiobook producer) puts out a boatload of titles and most of those aren't big sellers. So when a big book - like Marley and Me comes along, it's sales help support the production of other worhtwhile titles that are simply not going to be big sellers.
This means that the actor might - one day - get a residual deal but if the producers give in on that, the actor is going to have to accept a much smaller fee for recording what everyone knows won't be a big selling book.

Jeanie wrote: "Johnny, not to be crass, but do any of your books pay royalties? If so, we can run out and buy those first! ;)

Just a personal note, it just killed me when I found out most narrators don't get any..."

Bless you, Jeanie, and thanks for the support!

Julie wrote: "I noticed your narration of The Innocent Killer: A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and Its Astonishing Aftermath just got released at Audible . I plan on listening to it, but re..."

they released it? I was wondering about that.

I haven't seen the Netflix documentary on it. The Innocent Killer deals a whole lot more with Steven Avery being railroaded on the rape charge. No question he was innocent of that. As for the murder - I believe the author of the book I did thinks Avery is guilty. I just don't know but evidence seems to be pretty conclusive that he did it. If you are asking me if I think he did it -- I do think it likely. However if there is new evidence that's come to light or if there is evidence at all that he was railroaded again, he must have a new trial. All I know if what the book tells us and the book tells us he is guilty of murder.

Johnny wrote: "90% of my work now is in the adult market -- not the "dirty" adult market -- the regular - "Oh my God, we are soooo old!" market ..."

Oh, my, I think I'm in luv! That's my market! sigh... glad to see somebody remembers that we are still around. <><

I have to admit that while I know that I've heard your name, Tony Soos' Murder at Fenway Park was the first I remember hearing you narrate. It was wonderful. I am not a fan of televised baseball, but going out to the park to see the games is totally different. You made it sound like I was there (yea, I know part of it was the writing, but as we say a lot around here, and other audiobook groups I'm in: "The narrator can make or break a book") Needless to say, I'm collecting the rest of the series. Excellent work! <><

What was it like to do MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors after years of being a hit tv show. Did you have trouble not just falling into the characters of tv and trying to just imitate them

Johnny, we've heard that you work as a vocal coach for narrators... I have a boatload of questions about that, but I'll start with: How and why did you start this? What are some of the first things you tell your students about the narrating profession?

When Pamela Almand was here last week, she told us she had taken some narrating classes which you taught. Could you tell us how you got into doing that?

aaaannnnd! I want to know how you stretch the hours in a day so you can fit narrating a book, and going to different places to teach classes into it! <><

Msjodi777 wrote: "I have to admit that while I know that I've heard your name, Tony Soos' Murder at Fenway Park was the first I remember hearing you narrate. It was wonderful. I am not a fan of televised baseball, b..."

thank you! Troy is a great writer - he even gave an umpire my name in The Tomb that Ruth Built!

Travis of NNY wrote: "What was it like to do MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors after years of being a hit tv show. Did you have trouble not just falling into the characters of tv and trying to just imi..."

I'd seen the film and, of course, the TV show - but it's necessary for the narrator to only be concerned with the book. I had zero intention of imitating any of the actors from either media. I always create my characters based on what the author writes and what works in the context of the book and in the scene. Because the characters in the book were so well created, I only had to follow the authors clues to determine the right way to play them and I really wan't influenced by the film or tv show.

Msjodi777 wrote: "When Pamela Almand was here last week, she told us she had taken some narrating classes which you taught. Could you tell us how you got into doing that?

aaaannnnd! I want to know how you stretch ..."

I've been teaching commercial VO and Audiobook narration for over 20 years now. It started with people asking me to help them - to mentor them. I developed something of a following and that turned into a reputation as a good teacher and I really enjoy it.

I teach one-on-one and group workshops - mostly via Edge Studio in NYC but I do travel and put workshops on all over. I just did one in Dallas. What happens is, Recorded Books sends me someplace to speak and I add a day or two to the itinerary and offer a workshop.
the biggest bestest workshop started last year - Every year, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) has a big convention - where actors and producers meet and we have break out sessions and learn and schmooze. It's also the week of the Audies (our Oscars). A bunch of actors asked me to produce a workshop at the beginning of the week and I put together a staff of coaches like Scott Brick, Paul Ruben, Karen White, Jeffrey Kafer, PJ Ochlan, Simon Vance, Robert Fass, Peter Berkrot.... and it was a great event -- 70-80 people..such great.
I'm doing another this year - we call the JOHNNY HELLER 2ND ANNUAL SPLENDIFERSOUS NARRATOR WORKSHOP. Go friend me on Facebook and you can read all about it. It will be in Chicago on May 9th.

As far as stretching out the day, I do hour long one-on-one sessions and 2/3 hour sessions for 10 or more in a workshop. I just schedule them around my work and my auditions. I am very very high energy ( a nice way of saying "hyper") so I am something of a workaholic. I need/like to be busy.

Johnny wrote: "Travis of NNY wrote: "What was it like to do MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors after years of being a hit tv show. Did you have trouble not just falling into the characters of tv ..."

I will note I listened to this I believe last year and I didn't feel like you were trying to bring the tv personalities into the book

Julie wrote: "You've won so many different awards ! Would you mind telling us about a few of them ( or all if you'd like ), and which books you won them for ?

Also, is there one that you are most proud of ,or ..."

I won AUDIES for the Happiest Toddler on the Block in 2005 and for You Staying Young in 2009 - a Dr. Oz book. I was nominated last year for Best Male Narrator for A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwicz - a great guy and I was very proud of that.

Getting noticed with Earphone Awards, Publisher's Weekly Listen Up awards is always an honor and a really swell thing but as I tell my students, the surest way to know that you are doing well is when a producer wants to hire you again!

Julie wrote: "Those Grimm books are so neat ! I'm so glad someone took the old stories and modernized them a bit for today's kids ,and also added so much humor to them, since the original Grimm stories were pret..."

all 3 are brilliant! really funny

Julie wrote: "You've mentioned meeting some of the authors of books you've narrated . Would you say that you like meeting them, and it helps you to get to know them and their work better , and do they usually ha..."

I love to hear from the authors and I hope they become fans of my work on their books! It happens quite often. And fan letters from my authors is awesome. I don't encourage them -ever - to add input regarding the acting. That's mine! Once I've been cast - that's that. I do like to let them know that I'm the guy -- sometimes they have no vote on it/sometimes they do.

If I have a relationship with the author on social media, it can help regarding pronunciation of people they've written about.

Julie wrote: "How about fan letters ? Do you get them ? That'd be pretty neat to be recognized by your listeners . I think narrators need to have more recognition for their work . They can really add life to the..."

I get some fan letters ...not a lot. I think most people (in letters and reviews) really enjoy complaining more than praising! We can't help it - it's human nature to stand back and hurl insults.

I do peruse reviews sometimes. I'm not gonna lie -- it's nice to hear nice things about yourself. If it's isn't a nice thing, it's sometimes funny to hear how hated I may be.

I will confess - when people say nice things - I am sure they are right. When they dump on me -- well, they must be crazy!

If the review is well written and insightful, I appreciate constructive criticism ....if it's just nasty, I would prefer them to be creative in their nastiness!

Johnny, what would you say are the most frequent problem areas for new narrators and what is the most difficult skill to develop/perfect?

Jeanie wrote: "Johnny, what would you say are the most frequent problem areas for new narrators and what is the most difficult skill to develop/perfect?"

the single biggest problem is that too many people think this job comes down to reading out loud in English! It's an acting job for story tellers and that isn't something everyone can do.

I don't know if it's a "skill" but the most oft repeated phrase of mine is "slow down". We all speak much to fast and most new narrators rush through the words - robbing them of their magic and their power

We recently had an author in the group ask us what we would like to tell narrators... the author is doing the narration. What advice would you give to an author contemplating narrating his/her own work?

Johnny, I've listened to a few of your narrations recently. I absolutely loved the book: The Kind Worth Killing. I always love when a great narrator and a great story come together. I also enjoyed your narration of MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors and The Good Girl.

Have you ever looked at a book and thought, "Yuck!" or do you just look at it as a job? I guess in reality most of us have less desirable aspects to our jobs.

How long of a time frame are you given to complete a book? Also, it sounds like being a narrator is a demanding job so do you find it easy to sometimes procrastinate when working within your own schedule? If yes, do you have any tips on avoiding procrastination because it seems like I'm always telling my husband, that I'm a high-functioning procrastinator.

Jeanie wrote: "We recently had an author in the group ask us what we would like to tell narrators... the author is doing the narration. What advice would you give to an author contemplating narrating his/her own ..."

I think an author is - obviously - intimately aware of the story. That doesn't mean that he or she can act though. What frequently happens at Recorded Books when an author wants to narrate is they will have a few actors who are right for the project read a page or two and then the author will read the same pages and sit and listen. Usually, he/she will pick an actor.
That being said, some authors are great actors and can read their own stories. If so, great! If they really can do a great narration - they should. If they can't - they shouldn't. They still get our admiration for creating the work!

Julie wrote: "On the same sort of subject , we have a lot of discussions in the group about authors who narrate their own books.

Do you feel that some acting ability is a must in order to be a good narrator , ..."

I think I just answered this one! YES. Acting - good acting is needed in narration. It isn't just reading. I suggest everyone take some acting classes -- it's fun and empowering. And if you plan to narrate - do it for sure!!

Grumpus wrote: "Johnny wrote: "Julie wrote: "Could you tell us first of all, where you are originally from ?"

I am a Chicago boy! I grew up in Lombard,IL and graduated from Loyola of Chicago. Then off to NYC/LA a..."

I know it is a little off topic but I'm still curious about my question in message 24. Thanks :-)

Donna wrote: "Johnny, I've listened to a few of your narrations recently. I absolutely loved the book: The Kind Worth Killing. I always love when a great narrator and a great story come together...."

Lemme see how to break your questions down....
I do sometimes say "yuck". I don't love every book I do. It's important, however, that the listener doesn't know that I don't like the book!
I never see this as just a job. the narration is always important to someone. I really love what I do so I try to give my all.

time frame: Most times, I get about a week to prepare a book. then -depending on it's release date, anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks to have it recorded. It makes a difference - timewise - if the book is a simultaneous release or not. And it makes a difference if I am going to the studio (Rec Books, Harper, Penguin, Random House...etc) or doing it in my studio. If it's somewhere else, I have to work within their time frame and dress for work. If it's in my studio, I can work at 4AM in my underwear!
(most producers aren't in at 4AM and would rather not have me wandering about in my underwear ...very sad I think....)

Grumpus wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "Johnny wrote: "Julie wrote: "Could you tell us first of all, where you are originally from ?"

I am a Chicago boy! I grew up in Lombard,IL and graduated from Loyola of Chicago. Then..."

I think he knows there is a Packers fan in the thread and doesn't want to admit being a Bears fan. It's alright I don't hold it against people

Travis of NNY wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "Johnny wrote: "Julie wrote: "Could you tell us first of all, where you are originally from ?"

I am a Chicago boy! I grew up in Lombard,IL and graduated from Loyola ..."

Ha! I am a Bears fan. And unlike you Packer fans, we don't win a whole lot of games. Yet my allegiance does not waiver!

And now, my friends, a short break while I go find something to eat for lunch.
I just got back from Dallas where they have great food -- brisket tacos!!!OMG!!
I want those..
but we don't have them here.
It's a very sad thing.